<Begin Segment 10>

AI: Well, so then at this point here you've graduated and you were going on to dressmaking and you started with Millie Merrill. Can you tell me a little bit more about that? It sounds so interesting that you became a teacher for some of the Kibei students. And at that time were you starting to get interested in designing also?

KM: Well, during the time that I was learning, I went to many fashion shows, like I said. And I didn't know that they had people watching over dress design and modeling. And one day I was sketching like this, and then this man came up and he tapped my shoulder, and he said, "What are you gonna do with that design?" I said, "Well, I'm just copying it for design." I was honest, and said that. And he said, "Well no, all this is exclusive. You're not to take this copy." And so I said, "Oh, I'm sorry." And he said, "Well, you give me that paper." And so he took it back. But from then on, when I go to the fashion show, I put the design in my mind and I go to the bathroom [Laughs] and I sketch it before I forgot. Then I go back and take a look. [Laughs] And that's the way I sewed. And then the teacher really taught me a lot of things that's secret. Because she said, "You have a talent for this designing." And an opportunity opened up when Shirley Temple's studio said that they lost a seamstress. Then each day they had to wait for the cameras and everything, they'd lose that $750. So they said, "If she can, somebody can make it in one day, that the teacher would get $750 for one dress, which is a big price at that time, 1937, you know. And so she appointed me, and of course I did that. And she came for a fitting one time. And then I found out that she was in Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. That was the movie that she played in, but I never did get to see the movie.[Laughs] And another time was when I got to fit Jeannette MacDonald. And it was a real bright cerise dress. And when you fit, I was trying to fit her and she, around her bust especially, she said, "Not a wrinkle." Has to be done, I mean it has to be real smooth. And I don't know how many times I did it over and over again, and finally it got, she was satisfied with it. But I never got to see that picture either. But that's the nearest I got to a grownup actress. (Firefly was the movie.)

AI: Wow. Jeanette MacDonald was very big at that time.

KM: Yeah, she, yeah. And so when I realized how much the teacher was making -- she was giving me 25 cents (an hour) when I was an apprentice. And I thought, "Gee, this is dumb." I said, "I should, I ought to open my own shop and all that could be mine." And I said that, but my parents had been so poor for so long that I wanted to help them. That was, because they had sacrificed so much for me. And so one day I told the teacher, "You know, I think I've learned all the tricks of your trade, [Laughs] and I'd like to just quit and have my own shop." And, oh she would say, "Oh, I'll raise your price." Says, "Don't go." 'Cause she'll lose all the Japanese from Japan. And so, but I finally I made up my mind that I was gonna start on my own. Well, the problem was I didn't have any finances, my parents couldn't help me. So as I looked around, "Where do I locate my dressmaking shop." Well I found this flower shop, and it still had a flower shop on the side of it. But this, so I went to this boss, the landlord and he says, "Nobody's made good on that (property), in that shop." Everybody tried and they always went broke. So he says, "Well, I'll give it to you for $10 a month. And boy, that was just my price. So I said, "Okay, I'll take it." And so I didn't have any means then, so I didn't get to put dressmaking or anything. I just left the flower shop sign on there. And then the Japanese custom is, when you open a shop, you know they all bring you plants and flowers and so I had it all in the front, the big two windows in the front. And I got, they stop by, these clients and say, "Oh, how much is this flower or that flower?" And I said, "No, they're not for sale, they're for my, I opened this shop. I'm a dressmaker." "Oh, tell me about your dressmaking." And that's how I got, the flowers and the flower shop advertised for me. [Laughs]

AI: Oh.

KM: And so gradually I got like a neon sign.

AI: What year was that, that you opened your first shop?

KM: Where was it?

AI: When was it?

KM: When was it? 1938.

AI: And...

KM: And I had it until Pearl Harbor, '41.

AI: And what town was your shop in?

KM: Lomita.

AI: So you were still living with your family...?

KM: Parents, yeah.

AI: ...and you had your shop in town?

KM: Yeah, Yeah. It's between 101 and Sepulveda Avenue, now, the shop was. And, you know, I didn't have a telephone, I didn't even have a bathroom. And like I said, this landlord said, "Nobody made any good out of this. I'll just let you have it for $10." Well, after I had it for two years, said, "You know, I think we better install a bathroom for you." 'Cause I was going into the landlord's house to go to the bathroom and use the telephone. So he finally added a bathroom for me. And shortly after that, not even two years and then Pearl Harbor came. So he raised it to 2, 15, $12.50 with a bathroom. [Laughs]

<End Segment 10> - Copyright © 1999 Densho. All Rights Reserved.